


A Long-Awaited Talk

by Burgie



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-04 23:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14031426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: The cat came back, but her guilt still hounds her.





	A Long-Awaited Talk

**Author's Note:**

> My first RWBY fic so I probably got things wrong but hey it's fun to try new things, right?

After the battle for Haven had been won, Blake didn’t know what to do with herself. She needed to talk to Yang, yes, but… truth be told, she was scared. And of course she was scared, she was Blake Belladonna, the girl who ran away from everything, the girl whose very semblance was to leave a shadow of herself behind so that she could run away. She’d always been like that. And yet, here she was, back here. But she was still too scared to so much as look at Yang. Or at Yang’s arm, which made the pit of her stomach just drop. That was her fault. Yang had taken damage because Adam knew that it would hurt Blake. And he’d been right, as usual.

But now, Blake tried to busy herself in hauling bits of rubble out of the large room where the majority of the battle had taken place. There was far more to clean up down in the vault, where Cinder and Raven had fought before Raven had flown away. Blake was just another person in Yang’s life who’d left her. Blake bit her lip as tears stung her eyes, her ears flattening into her hair. She knew that she’d hurt Yang far worse than Adam had, and for more than one reason. She’d seen that look in Yang’s eyes. It was the same look she saw in Sun’s eyes, day after day. But what had she ever done to deserve their love, to deserve anyone’s love?

Tears blurred Blake’s vision as she turned back to look into the room. Team RWBY (well, RWY at the moment) was working together on one of the larger piles of rubble, nobody daring to go downstairs to clean up the vault. Cinder may still be there, after all, or one of her cronies, come to find her. She was the Fall Maiden, it would only make sense for someone to come and rescue her. Blake should be over there, helping the rest of her team. But she couldn’t bear to be near Yang, not when it meant having this strange feeling all the time. Guilt, fed largely by love. Because she did really like Yang, even after everything that had happened. That was why it hurt so much.

“Hey, Blake!” Ruby called, jogging over to her and waving. Blake flinched, looking away from her.

“Hi, Ruby,” said Blake, her voice quiet and her eyes cast downwards. She could still see the look of concern on Ruby’s face, though, and that hopeful smile, just from her tone. And because that was just the way Ruby was, always hopeful, even when the world was quite literally ending. Blake envied her that hope, that optimism.

“We’re going out to get something to eat if you wanna come,” said Ruby. Blake looked up at her and, sure enough, there was that hopeful smile on Ruby’s face.

“No thanks,” said Blake, looking away from that hope. She’d just reunited with her team, it was too soon for her to just go out with them like nothing had gone wrong. Like nothing had happened. Like she hadn’t run away and abandoned her team. She’d told herself that she was going to help her people, to reunite with her parents, but that had only been half the truth. Her own reasoning for herself. Yes, she had helped the other faunus, taken the White Fang back, made Adam be the one to go running, but… she’d also abandoned her team when they’d needed her most. She knew that a lot had happened, just by the shift in Weiss’ personality, Ruby’s slightly more serious demeanour, Yang had literally lost an arm, they’d teamed up with the remnants of JNPR, and they’d picked up another kid along the way.

“That’s okay,” said Ruby, breaking Blake out of her thoughts. “You just take all the time you need, but… please don’t run away again.” Her smile became more strained, as Blake saw when she looked at Ruby again. The girl was on the verge of tears, and yet still she smiled.

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Blake, surprising both of them by giving Ruby a reassuring hug. Ruby squeezed her back tightly, with all the desperation of someone who’d missed her all the time she’d been away. They’d all lost things, but Blake had chosen to leave. The thought brought tears to her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away when she pulled away from Ruby. “You guys have a nice time out, I’ll… finish up here.”

“Okay,” said Ruby, nodding, and jogged back over to the rest of the team while Blake got back to work on cleaning up.

Blake heard the receding footsteps of her teammates as she bent over one particularly stubborn piece of rubble, wishing for Glinda’s semblance of cleaning things up. But at least this would keep her busy, and, though she hadn’t exactly helped much in the fight (other than fending off Adam, and even that had mostly been Sun and Ilia), she could at least help with the cleanup.

But then, a hand on Blake’s shoulder stopped her, and she turned to find herself staring up into the purple eyes of the girl who she’d abandoned. Blake froze, a piece of the rubble dropping from her hand.

“You know you don’t have to clean up everything now, right?” said Yang. “You can take a break. After everything that just happened, we deserve a break. Or a holiday. A vacation somewhere nice and safe, maybe a tropical beach. But you probably don’t like water, huh?”

“You’ve never been to Menagerie, have you?” said Blake, glad to find her tongue. She smirked. “It’s an island, it’s surrounded by water. But I do like the idea of a holiday. Even though I don’t deserve it.”

“Hey now,” said Yang, taking Blake’s chin in her hand and tilting it up. Blake’s heart raced. Oh god. Was Yang about to kiss her? “Enough with the moping, okay? It achieves nothing but making yourself feel bad.”

“How can you say that?” asked Blake, trying to will the tears away. “You’re the one I hurt most.”

“And I’m not going to deny that,” said Yang. “But you came back and didn’t immediately leave again, and that’s what matters.” Immediately, Blake remembered the look of shock and awe on Yang’s face when she’d seen her through the wall. She knew that Yang was right, but it still didn’t stop the guilt from rising up.

“I still left, though,” said Blake. Yang sighed, shaking her head.

“Come on, get up,” said Yang, standing again.

“What? Why?” asked Blake, looking up at her.

“We’re going out,” said Yang. “Call it a date if you want but I didn’t ask you out before, and I’m sure as hell not about to let that opportunity slip again.” Blake felt heat rising to her face, but she also rose to her feet, dusting her hands off on her outfit.

“Okay,” said Blake, her heart pounding again. “Where to?”

There was a hot dog stand that Yang knew of and favoured, deeper into the city away from the fighting, but Yang had an idea for how to get there faster.

“I’m not sure,” said Blake, flattening her ears when she saw the yellow bike standing on its kickstand in all its glory. She’d seen how fast that thing was.

“Aw, c’mon!” said Yang, grinning. “We’ll get there in, like, five seconds flat. Maybe ten with traffic.”

“In one piece, though?” asked Blake.

“Yeah, c’mon, you can wrap your arms around me,” said Yang, wiggling her eyebrows. Now Blake blushed again, a tiny smile tugging at her lips.

“Alright, fine,” said Blake with a sigh. Yang grinned and handed Blake a spare helmet before shoving her own one on. The helmet felt slightly uncomfortable, pressing down Blake’s ears, but no more so than the bow had felt, pinning them in the one place. And besides, Blake felt slightly safer with it on. Taking a deep breath, her heart in her throat, Blake climbed up onto the motorcycle behind Yang and wrapped her arms around her.

It was a very short ride to the hot dog stand, but no less terrifying. Blake’s head was still spinning even after she’d walked away to stand in line, but Yang was more than happy to hold her steady.

“You okay?” asked Yang, grinning. Blake shook her head, which did not help the spinning at all and why had she done that.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” said Blake. Yang laughed and smacked her on the back, causing Blake to stumble slightly.

“You’ll get used to it, trust me,” said Yang with a wink. Blake frowned, not believing her in the slightest.

To Blake’s relief, her head had stopped spinning and her stomach no longer felt so rebellious by the time the two sat down at a café table with their chilli dogs. Yang chowed down on hers eagerly, while Blake nibbled more delicately. It wasn’t fish, and it was rather spicy, but it also wasn’t too bad. With a jolt, she realised that she hadn’t felt guilty for some time now, the dizziness having overshadowed everything. She gave a tiny smile.

“What are you grinning about?” asked Yang, smiling with her head in her hands as she looked at Blake. She’d already finished her food, of course.

“You’re a good distraction,” said Blake with a shake of her head and a smile.

“Oh, is that all I am?” said Yang, feigning hurt. But she smiled again. “I’m glad it worked. But the date isn’t over yet.”

“If this is a date, shouldn’t there be more kissing?” asked Blake, her cheeks burning as much as her lips were from the chilli. “Or romance?”

“Dates don’t have to be all super romantic,” said Yang, waving her hand as she leaned back in her chair. “They can just be two people having a great time and relaxing a bit. While also liking each other a whole lot.”

“I guess my parents skewed my perceptions of what love is meant to be,” said Blake with a roll of her eyes. “Dad always sends roses to my mum. Or entire rose bushes that he uprooted.” Yang laughed.

“Well, I’m not about to go around uprooting rose bushes for you,” said Yang. “But if you really want roses, there’s a florist on this street.”

“You don’t have to,” said Blake immediately, knowing how much roses cost.

“Yes I do,” said Yang, rising from the table. Blake blushed, sinking down into her seat. When Yang returned, she thought that her cheeks would be burning as red as the roses. But the roses weren’t red.

“Yang,” said Blake, blushing, even as a smile crept across her face as Yang handed her a bouquet of black and yellow roses.

“Nobody ever said I wasn’t cheesy,” said Yang with a cheeky grin. Blake laughed and got to her feet, wrapping her arms around Yang on an impulse borne out of a very rare happiness. She was actually grinning, but into Yang’s hair, where nobody could see it.

“Thank you,” said Blake, giving her a small smile after she pulled away.

“Hey, don’t get too sappy on me, the date isn’t over yet,” said Yang. “C’mon, there’s a boxing match not far from here.”

“Of course you’d be into boxing matches,” said Blake with a roll of her eyes. As Yang led her down an alley, holding Blake’s hand with her strangely-warm robotic hand, Blake remembered that the faunus had once been subjected to cruel cage fighting matches for sport or in order to survive. But that practice had long-since been outlawed, thanks in large part to her father’s efforts with the White Fang. Humans didn’t like fighting faunus so much when the faunus could give as good as they got.

The boxing arena wasn’t like one of those cage fights, though. There was a ring in the middle where two heavily-muscled humans sat in opposite corners, and seats all around leading up to the ceiling. It smelled of sweat and sawdust, as well as popcorn. It was not altogether a bad smell, though Blake still wasn’t sure about the fighting. Yang found a seat for them, letting Blake sit first so that her roses wouldn’t be crushed. Blake inhaled their sweet scent, letting a smile show. When she looked at Yang, she found her date smiling like a lovestruck fool.

“I like to come here to pick up fighting tips,” said Yang. “Especially after what happened.” That cooled Blake’s feelings again as she looked at Yang’s new arm.

“I’m sorry for making you lose it,” said Blake.

“If I had to choose you or my arm, I’d choose you any day,” said Yang. Blake blinked away tears, looking down at the roses that she didn’t deserve. “Hey.” Yang’s voice was stern as she turned Blake’s head to look at her. Yang wagged her finger in Blake’s face. “No. Moping.”

“At least I’m not running away,” said Blake.

“Yes, that is progress,” said Yang, nodding. “Anyway, while I was stuck at home and my sister set out in search of Haven, dad taught me a few things. Mostly how to fight without relying so heavily on my semblance. And so I decided that I should maybe watch some physical fights, to pick up some tips. Qrow insisted on it too, because we all could do with learning some hand-to-hand combat moves. Guns and swords and dust are all well and good, but weapons can easily be knocked out of your hands, and then what? You’re screwed.”

“That does make sense,” said Blake. “I guess I have to catch up with some training then, huh?”

“Yep,” said Yang, nodding and grinning. “But don’t worry, we’ll all train with you. Weiss has only recently joined us so she’s pretty much in the same boat as you.”

“I can’t imagine that pretty little princess fighting with her physical strength,” said Blake.

“Just you wait and see,” said Yang, chuckling. “She’s changed a lot since you last saw her. She can kick some serious ass now.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Blake with a roll of her eyes. But then, the lights went down and the fight began. Blake watched as the two fighters came together in the ring, trying to memorise everything they did and wondering how she might be able to implement some of these moves into her own fighting style. Her fingers itched to take notes, but she had no notebook with her, and besides, she was supposed to just be watching. Yang, meanwhile, got really into it, cheering on her favourite fighter and wincing at some of the more vicious blows.

After the match was over, Yang and Blake joined the flow of the crowd as it trickled outside into the cool night air.

“Well, how’d you like that?” asked Yang, grinning at her date.

“I prefer ninjas,” said Blake. “But it was… nice. Helpful. I’ll try some of those moves myself next time I train.”

“At least you get it,” said Yang with a laugh. Her eyes softened as she gazed into Blake’s eyes, purple into yellow. And this time, Blake didn’t panic when Yang took Blake’s face in her hands, leaned in, and kissed her under the stars. The guilt, for now, was silent. Abated. No more running. Blake decided that she would stay right here, with her team, come what may.


End file.
